A 90' but a Goodie

When I hear about this group, I have such great and fond memories! I have to thank my sister Mari for making me a HUGE fan when I was only 7 years old, they quickly became a favorite of mine to sing around the house and I was constantly seeing them on MTV (when MTV showed music videos). They're still around, and still have those beautiful harmonies that never fade away, oh, and they even appeared in the movie "Bridesmaids" just last year! 

Of course I'm talking about:

Wilson Phillips

I remember being in elementary school and being made fun of for loving Wilson Phillips as much as I did, according to the 1st Grade boys, they weren't for "Boys" to like...Well, like I ever listened!! I've followed their music career since the very beginning all the way up until now, seen every reality show made on them, and love listening to their music. Usually certain memories will have you travel back in time to that very moment when a flash of a movie comes out on T.V. or a song comes out on the radio...well for me, a song of theirs always transports me to the sweet scent of my sister's perfume that I loved oh so much on her and her hair scrunchies would have that same scent as well ("Morning Dew" by Annie Oakley), such great memories!

For Wilson Phillips, "Hold On" really became their biggest hit to date and they're known WORLDWIDE!
In my "BLQ" world though, my favorite song from this great trio is the one you see above, 

"You're in Love". 

"You're in Love" talks about a former love that was once a good friend who has since moved on and is now in love with someone else, and is HAPPY!! Go figure! Now how often does this happen, and in good terms??? Hmmmm...not sure about that statistic, yet, I do know that it CAN happen though. 

There's nothing better than to see that certain person that made a HUGE difference in our lives happy again! Many of us are not meant to be with eachother, and even if we try to force anything against the Universe's will, that's when it backfires and it can take a LONG time to repair. By recognizing what's evident, it can surely make that much more of a difference to both parties and a different path can and will be taken, if anything for the RIGHT reasons.

Many of us have trouble understanding the action part of the word
"Happiness". Of course when you're EXPECTED to LOVE and see someone happy, it's almost as if it can't happen and you don't want to, a very insecure feeling will start settling in all due to the simple fact that you're being stubborn.

How bad can it really hurt? Will it cost you anything? 
Not at ALL!!

Celebrate what can be alleviated with a simple genuine act of kindness and look at others in the same way you would want to be looked at...as a HAPPY person. When the time comes to truly have fallen in love, you'll want nothing but the very best for EVERYONE around you and even for strangers! Funny yet TRUE! It's amazing what it can really make you do when you feel so warm, fuzzy and HAPPY inside!

Even though it's been 13 years since I first fell in love and 11 years since my heart last loved, I remember it just like it was yesterday, and I can say to ALL of you truthfully, it's such a GREAT feeling!! These days I still love no matter what, and just like this song states:

You're in love
That's the way
It should be
'Cause I want you to be happy
You're in love
And I know
That you're not in love with me
Ooh it's enough
For me to know
That you're in love
Now I'll let you go
'Cause I know
That you're in love
 <3

What's worse than what you HAVEN'T done?

We humans speak through different variables of language and different ways of communication. We would much rather communicate to the person next to us and answer to them, rather than answering to ourselves and seeing what really IS going on with us. 

Many times per day we question our own minds, 

so much at times that we tend to go on overdrive and expect immediate answers to our inexperienced situations.We bust ourselves so much that we blame the TRUTH on what we "could've, should've and would've" done, NOT on what "CAN" and "HAVE" to do.

It's easy to think and know what our drive can do for us and how far were to go if we've tried everything possible to achieve a simple "pat" on the back. Well, it's time to stretch the outcome, time to stretch the ability of not what we already "HAVE" done, rather, what we "HAVEN'T" done.

Just when you couldn't of thought of a worse action, one where you're doing so by

 challenging your own self.

"I've done what I can, no matter what I do I"ll get the same result"

"I did what I could, we'll just see what happens"

"What else is there to do? I don't see a way out"

"What do you mean? I've given 100% and still nothing!"

Sound familiar? I thought so. I used to say these phrases ALL the time, expecting for the answer to mysteriously appear right in front of my eyes. Well, the answers never came the way I wanted them to, they instead, never really came at all, and I was comforted by knowing that they would never come. Talk about LOST IN YOU OWN TRANSLATION! Sounds a lot like a form of giving up, only giving up has an ending, and this here, doesn't, it remains open with a ray of hope to come and rescue the lost and confused. 

What can you do to make it better?

FIGHT!!!

Do you ever feel like you've put up a fight and yet you get nothing? No resolution? 

 It's because you never really put up the fight to make it to the end. You've done ALL that you could, only now, you've chosen to give up and wait an eternity for the solution, although, don't complain later about what you've done, complain about what YOU HAVEN'T done.

There's always a loophole, a way out, an answer to confusion. 

Yet, you mean to tell me that there isn't one? It's a fallacy, a lie? Well, I don't buy it. Until you've given what your heart can, what tears your eyes can shed, the wear and tear of your soul, having dissected each compartment of your heart, until you've given not 100%, rather 500% of your being to know that what you HAVEN'T done HAS been done, 

then rest assure a definite answer is upon arrival. 

Don't expect the answers, GET the answers,

 explore and conquer what you HAVEN'T done!

Personal Heartbreak=Success

Just when you think when you can't show who you really are and what you can do, something heartbreaking comes along to give you that extra push, 

and behold, 

you've MADE it!

Success is defined by only stardom these days...how many times your work has been in a magazine, how many times you've been on a T.V. show, how many credits you've received in films, or even my personal favorite, how many sex tapes you've had circling around the internet. The word "Success" has become this flashy word that only lasts 15 minutes, and you're lucky if you get a second opportunity to make it a full 30 minutes worth.

Every week I hear and see SO MANY people always try to upstage and back stab each other in trying to make themselves look like they're heroes. Now remember, I network plenty on my own and only pay attention to what my clientele needs and have no need to dip into others' territory. 

Part of being who you are is staying true to who you've become. 

If you've needed to cut ways and dig deep into others' personal boundaries, unfortunately, you'll see and become the outcome of your own doing. If you've allowed time to make it's territory and it's availability to fit your schedule, no matter how long it's taken, you'll see the outcome to your patience for what IS, and NOT what HAS to be.

Everyone's story is different, although many of us share the same rise to our own Success. My cousins and closest friends always comment in texts and over the phone how they're so proud of what I've become, how far I've been able to reach my dreams and even how tired I look (which makes me laugh every time), yet they still see the fire burning inside my actions and my heart.

TRUTH be known, I don't see what they see, I see my experiences and titles as accomplishments that have allowed me and still continue to allow me to grow and prove myself day after day, no matter the location or who I'm having the pleasure to work on, whether it be my next door neighbor, my siblings, or a recording artist. I treat everything and everyone the same, I do what I do to make people happy and to help them, NOT to please myself (as much as I tease about it).

Every job I've had, to this day, I've always had at least up to 2 people try to pull me down with their words, actions, and their disbelief. In the beginning, I didn't think people were capable of such wrong doing, yet I learned year after year that the human mind can overrule the heart in a matter of seconds. I can count at least 4 people right now that are after me, and it's O.K. I don't fall for the tactics and show no emotion other than that of my craft, which is my heart for creativity. I've had to cover myself plenty of times, told lies of my own to make sure the direction of wrongdoing makes a shift like train tracks do, and have had times where it works, others where it simply doesn't, and that's where you make notes of what should and shouldn't be done for future events of the same nature. To survive the negativity, one must shift it although NEVER at a price or someone else's expense.

  It breaks my heart to know that as much as someone can say, "I love what you do"  when they really mean, "I hope you crash and burn so I can shine"....it's mind boggling! Though, that's the name of the game, and if you REALLY want it, you'll go through what you need to go through.

  My sister Mari, being my business manager for all I do, said to me one night,

"Don't give into your hype, go back to basics and discover why it is you love what you do so much, and let those tears out, it'll keep your heart clean".

Success in my book is when you make others feel what you feel, 

which is LOVE, LIFE and HAPPINESS...

until then, make sure you do things for the right reasons, for the greater good, 

and you'll FEEL yet WON'T SEE what Success truly is.

A Thousand Years

Christina Perri
comes to the music world as an innovative artist that simply writes and sings straight from the core of her soul. She came out into the scene in 2010 with her sultry ballad "Jar of Hearts" which sampled a great view into this singer-songwriter's world through her heart and lyrical desires. When "Jar of Hearts" came onto the scene, everyone loved the song for it's truth of brokenness and for it's truth of loveless hope. How Christina was able to portray her sorrows in her debut song just like Adele, Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, amongst other great singer-songwriter's have done it before her, she really connected to her target audience...the "Lovelorn"!

Fast forward to late 2011 when "Twilight: Breaking Dawn Pt. 1" premieres, and in the midst of the movie, we hear a familiar voice that expresses love's emotional desire...

in comes...

"A Thousand Years".

While I watched the movie, I couldn't get this song out of my head! I looked for it as soon as I could and got it on iTunes. Did I identify with the song? Of course!! Although, not in the vampire-human love it portrays in "Breaking Dawn", more of the likes of looking at someone from far away, feeling the shakes, butterflies in the pit of your stomach, walking to them and admitting to yourself that by a glance, you're able to say:


I have died everyday  
waiting for you,
Darlin' don't be afraid 
I have loved you
For a Thousand years,
I'll love you for a  
Thousand more.

This by far has got to be one of my FAVORITE choruses in a song in a very LONG time! Christina couldn't have described it that much greater! What makes it a great song is not only it's lyrical content, it's in the delivery, the vocal that deepens the song. It's easily drafted, easily composed without any major tricks, it simply just is, point blank!

LOVE itself is complex in so many different areas in LIFE. At times, various points in our lives, we want it so bad that we'll feel like we can settle down for anyone who has LOVE to spare to come our way. Yet, if you've ever had a broken heart, been divorced, have done the breaking up or vice versa, you'll know that LOVE NEVER COMES EASY, and it just doesn't show up when YOU want it to, it shows up when YOU least expect it, meaning, when YOU'RE ready.

You can make someone want you for the wrong reasons, and in due time, it'll catch up to you where you'll see freely, that it doesn't belong. Many stay in these type of relationships for years, and don't want to see what's really going on. Therefore for those in search of LOVE, this is the definition:

"An emotion of a strong affection and personal attachment"

This is MY definition of LOVE:

A discovery and connection of personal intuition deriving from the mind as it bonds together to the emotional state of the heart.

As stated in blogs before, I've only felt LOVE's exact definition only ONCE and I've acted upon MY definition of LOVE...only ONCE as well....what am I waiting for? 

Well, I'm waiting for the day that LOVE's definition and MY definition will one day come together for the right person and for my heart to say:

 I have died everyday  
waiting for you,

Darlin' don't be afraid 
I have loved you
For a Thousand years,

I'll love you for a  
Thousand more.

The Thought of Heaven

In every family, there are what we like to call TRADITIONS...most of them are passed on from generation to generation and most have family heirlooms that are such valuable keepsakes, they're that important and fragile, in a sentimental way to be exact. 

One of those TRADITIONS that I see most being passed down the generations is RELIGION. Many of my friends have been and/or are Catholic-Christian, others are Born Again Christian, some are Latter Day Saints (Mormon), some of Jehovah Witness, and many are Buddhists. Although TRADITION is so important to the core of the family, many of them are still in their perspective faiths, I know I am. Although I've ventured out into studying many other faiths/religions around the world, I've stuck to what I feel most comfortable and at peace with.

As a child growing up in a Mexican-American home, we usually went to Church Services every Sunday somewhere between 9-10 am. Mommy Dearest would get us up at 7 am to take showers, leave the house by 8:30 am the latest, get to Church at least 15 min. early and wait for the service to start. Now as a child, I would get bored in Church, every Sunday became redundant, we would sing the same hymns, get the "brown" book in front of us and pretend to follow the scripture readings when in fact, I would be staring at the person next to me to see if they hand pretty manicured hands or wrinkly ones (mostly I remember wrinkly hands than anything). Then I would feel a pinch from Mommy Dearest and she made sure my eyes were glued to the front of the Church where our Priest would be talking from.

As I recollect, I do remember one time in particular when our Priest was talking about the concept of "Heaven". He was explaining how one day we are to go back to where we came from, and how were not allowed to know how or where Heaven is, until it is time for us to go back, and until that time, we are to live LIFE as it happens.

I kid you not, ever since I heard our Priest's homily that Sunday morning, I've had it engraved in my head that one day, I won't see trees, the city, eat food or even sleep anymore, I, along with many others, will be going back to what was once my home. Now at the time, I must've been 4 or 5 years old...how do I remember this?

Soon after that Sunday service, my family took a trip to Colima, Mexico, a trip that my older Sister Mari was unable to attend due to her school commitments and after school activities. I remember sitting next to my older brother, Jorge,on the plane and being excited about going up in the air. As the plane was getting ready to depart from the runway, I pretty much passed out. Shortly after take off I actually woke up right as the flight attendants were serving us lunch (Mommy Dearest had splashed water on my face to wake me up). After eating our lunch, I asked Mommy Dearest a question that left her thinking and asking herself, "Now why would he be asking me this in mid air?" I asked, "Mami, is this where GOD lives? Are we going up to heaven?" Mommy Dearest quickly replied, "Why would you ask that? No, GOD lives further up, we won't see him for a long time to come". Then I proceeded to ask, "Do the Angels live here?" She just shook her head no.

Now I can only imagine my Mom's fear as I ask this question as we were flying. I wasn't confused by her response, although as a 4-5 year old boy, my mind kept going over and over the concept of what Heaven was and what it must be...seeing the white puffy clouds with the bright blue sky out of the window of the plane was a beautiful sight, and my mind kept saying, 

"GOD must live in a beautiful place!"

In present time, the thought of Heaven is that of the same beautiful sight I saw back when I was a child in my mind. I've traveled quite a bit as an adult for my job and let me just say, every single time I've gotten on a plane, I think about my first Heaven question, which is why I actually never sit next to a window seat, I prefer for my mind not to wander so much, especially these days.

Heaven in my opinion is a mystery to a certain extent, yet it's one of the many wonders us humans will always want to experience and come back to tell others about how it is. 

Which is why I highly recommend the book "Heaven is for Real", the real story about a 4 year old boy who died, experienced Heaven, and came back to tell his parents all about it. It's a very compelling book and a TRUE and uncanny story that no 4 year old boy could ever make up in his mind. You will be left with your mouth open.

If anything, whichever faith you follow, or lack there of, this story will allow you to rediscover and question.... 

The Thought of Heaven.

"Dejame Ir" (Let me Go)

Oh it's that time to choose a song!!

 One of my favorite things to do if you've followed me for a while (for those newcomers, welcome!) is share one of my favorite songs that has made such an impact on my life at the moment...of course one that ANYONE can relate to.

Today's choice....

Dejame Ir

REIK

I've had the great pleasure of working with this talented trio of singing musicians, and let me just say for the record that they are the most humbling artists you'll find in today's music world! On their albums, they're amazing, and in live concerts, they're even BETTER! Especially when it comes to their love songs, such as this particular one.

"Dejame Ir" ("Let Me Go" in English) is the basic thought of a breakup love song, although instead of your typical cry fest that one has when a relationship has ended, REIK gives the side of having come to terms with what it feels like to be in limbo, what it is to truly feel the pain when having to give a sigh with a lonely heart. Even though it hurts all around, they're telling the other person to let them go, not to be afraid to do so, as they also feel the pain and death of a love once fully alive.

Coming from a singer-songwriter such as myself, you really can't write a love song such as this one without having to feel the pain yourself. This song comes from REIK's 4th album and latest release "Peligro" (Danger), I of course have ALL 4 albums, and with each release that they've put out, the love songs keep getting deeper and have become an essential part of their signature sound. When I first heard "Dejame Ir", it struck a chord with what's been the ongoing theme in the beginning part of my 2012 life. 

I can't tell you how many people I've had to let go in my life recently. Obviously each year, certain events come about that make you really reflect on what IS happening and what WAS supposed to happen. It seems as if this year thus far, going now into 5 months, I've seen more people go than stay. I've even tried to put myself out there to date and get to know different people, and usually, before, when I used to go that route, people would stick around, now, I'm not able to do that anymore. I've battled with, "Is it something I'm saying? Is it something I'm not doing right? 

Am I changing for the worst?" 

Now when it comes to fear, I don't feed into it, I let it simmer and do it's marinating as much as it needs to and I let it go. I know it's not fear that's been straying people away from me, it's been my determination to NOT continue with any excess baggage. There's been times where I know I've seen the outcomes before they happen, in a premonition type of "preview", and my heart holds on to that vision for weeks on end, and then for some reason or another, I never hear from those people ever again. It's hard to always think that ONE day, it'll hurt to let go, yet,

 it'll hurt more to hold on to an empty memory.

Recently when I was invited by one of the band members from REIK to attend their concert, I stood there in a daze before they came onstage, almost in a fog, as always me thinking too much. Yet as soon as REIK came on and started performing their new material, my heart came to reason, and when I saw them perform, "Dejame Ir", it hit me like a gust of wind! I knew then FINALLY that it was O.K. to let go for the right reasons. If I was and still am to truly find my path of LIFE, even though I'm going to hurt, even though I'm going find it hard to breathe and find it hard to believe, once I let go, then THE OTHER PARTY will be letting go and we'll both find the right paths and will be led in the right direction.

Sometimes all it takes is a simple melody, truthful lyrics, and great musicians to sing it to you to make you see clearly. 

Tears usually turn into a smile,

Once you've learned to say, "Let Me Go".

Usualmente las lagrimas se convierten en una sonrisa,

Todo cuando aprendes a decir, "Dejame Ir".

--->Erik Velasco

REIK

Peligro

Album on sale on iTunes

 

The Choice

This month has been deemed the "Learning to Let Go" month, which is tough to even comprehend in LIFE yet we as humans do it more than often.

Last month, one of my Sister-In-Law's sent me an article link through a text to my phone from the CNN website that I must say REALLY captivated me!! Let's just say that out of the 9 recipients that she sent this link to, I was the only one who read it. Therefore I had said that I would make sure this story would be shared here in my blog during the month of April.

In North Korea, a brutal Choice

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/24/us/north-korean-refugees/index.html

NOTE: 

This is a summary about the article, 

please click and/or copy & paste to read the FULL article.

This story's about a family of 8 in North Korea that were experiencing everything bad that could happen to them, pretty much famine in it's excess amount. The Mother of the family, Song Ee Han, is the one giving the interview and sharing her difficult story of what her family had to go through to survive and get her surviving children to live and not give up, especially on herself. 

Such drastic measures had been taken to the point where Song's family of 8, in a short period of time had dwindled down from to 4 in less than a year with one member, the Father and Husband of the family, having been beaten and tortured to death by officers while on his way back from China carrying rice to feed his family.

Song even at one point had delivered a newborn baby and within months passed away from starvation. The rest of her children's bodies were shrinking and their hair was turning brittle, having to survive each day, they "stripped pine trees, plucked grass and ate every part of each corn plant they could find, including the cob and the skin -- which they ground into tasteless cakes..". One of her daughter's had even found a family of mice under a rock, which Song had boiled and fed them to her daughter for any kind of nourishment, according to Song, "My heart was torn into shreds".

Now why the famine at this time in North Korea?

Food became scarce in North Korea in the 1990s following the demise of the Soviet Union, which was the country's main financial backer, and prolonged drought. Which left it's country in ruins and civilian's scraping for anything to survive.

At this point with Song having lost half of her family due to starvation and police brutality, she fled along with her 2 daughter's and 5 year old son wanting to cross into China for safety and an opportunity at a better LIFE. 

Although because they had to travel 100 miles by foot, her 5 year old son was completely restless at one point, and his sisters were too weak to carry him, let alone, Song herself, while staying at a friend's home, she had the most DIFFICULT decision a Mother could even ask herself...of choosing to stay in poverty for the rest of her LIFE and experience her very own death, or leave one of her children behind to get two of them to safety and risk coming back for the one that was left behind.

When I read this section of the article, I began to silently cry because I couldn't even imagine what her heart was going through even deciphering and going through her options. All I could think about was how she was weeping herself to sleep meanwhile at the same time she was praying to GOD himself about what she should do...all the most ironic of it all, many centuries ago, GOD himself sent his only Son Jesus to earth to die for man's sin, the ultimate sacrifice.

The next day, Song had left her 5 year old son with her friend, promising him that she would be back to get him within 5 days...yet unfortunately, the last time she saw her child was the very last time she would ever get to speak, hug, and see him.

Song now lives in the United States, with her only family being that of her two daughter's that were lucky to survive along with her. Today they speak out about their experience and believe they know and recognize that it is GOD that had chosen them to live this sacrifice for others to benefit from and garner the strength they have accumulated throughout the years. 

China served it's purpose for them to launch themselves into the greater dream, 

the land of the FREE, The United States.

Letting go requires a choice,

a choice that will shape your future,

and lead you to where you're supposed to be.

Are you willing to make a sacrificial choice to protect those around you and your future?